Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Five and a Half Parables

Below is a rough translation and some initial comments
regarding the five-and-a-half parables in Matthew 13:31-35; 44-52, the Revised
Common Lectionary reading for Sunday, July 27, 2014. I have colleagues who
wonder, regarding this text, if Matthew has a collection of notes about things
that Jesus said and is piecing them together without much evident connective
meaning. Some even question whether Matthew himself understood the parables
that he has collected. The text does seem to leap from metaphor to metaphor,
from simile to simile, with on occasional reflection, not on the reign of God,
but on the nature of parabolic speech itself. My own approach is to assume that
Matthew means what he says and knows what he means. Yet, it is a challenge to
read this chapter as a whole, particularly if one wants to see metaphors mean
the same thing from one parable to another.

The parables here – which read more like similes about the
reign of the heavens than fully fledged stories – are 1) the mustard
seed-to-tree; 2) the leaven in the loaf; 3) the treasure in the field; 4) the
pearl of great value; and 5) the dragnet of good and bad. The final verse is
another simile, but it is a simile about the scribes of the reign of God,
drawing new and old out of the treasure – which may be the parables themselves.
That’s why I am naming it a half-of-a-parable.

The other two parables of this chapter – each with
explanations – are the parable of the sower and the parable of the wheat and
weeds. I continue to wonder why Jesus is using parabolic speech and what
followers of Jesus are supposed to do with them 2,000 years later. There are
two dynamics at play that I can see. One is that Jesus is in a very contentious
moment. In c.12 the Pharisees have begun to conspire on his death and have
accused him of performing deeds by the power of Beelzebul. Likewise, his mother
and brothers have come to fetch him, although Matthew does not really say why.
At the end of c.13, Jesus speaks in his hometown where his kinfolk are both
astounded and offended at him and he is the prophet without honor. In this
sense, parabolic speech seems to be obfuscating speech, bewildering to those
without ears to hear and meant for those with them.

The second dynamic is a little friendlier. The idea that the
scribes of the reign of the heavens draw from its treasure new and old give me
hope that, in my role as a teaching elder, I can rely on observations that have
been made many times over about this text and hope to find new insights as I
dig through it.

31 Ἄλληνπαραβολὴνπαρέθηκεναὐτοῖςλέγων,Ὁμοίαἐστὶνἡβασιλείατῶν

οὐρανῶν
κόκκῳσινάπεως,ὃνλαβὼνἄνθρωποςἔσπειρενἐντῷἀγρῷαὐτοῦ:

He put before them another parable saying,
“The reign of the heavens is like a kernel of mustard, which having taken a man
sowed in his field;

παρέθηκεν: AAI 3s, παρατίθημι,1) to
place beside or near or set before

1.
This is a bit of a complicated verse to translate. The μέν…
δὲof
the first phrase seem to indicate a contrast, which I have represented with
“though … yet.” The two verbs of the second phrase are infinitives. So, I have
translated ὥστε– which greattreasures.org describes as ‘a
consecutive conjunction, i.e. expressing consequence or result’ – as “causing.”
That is at least one way to keep the infinitives in the form of ‘to come’ and
‘to nest.’

2.
I’ve read that the mustard plant is a bush, not a tree, but it seems that the
point of the parable is the size, relative both to other plants and to the
initial kernel from which the plant grows.

33 Ἄλληνπαραβολὴνἐλάλησεναὐτοῖς:Ὁμοίαἐστὶνἡ βασιλείατῶνοὐρανῶν

ζύμῃ,ἣνλαβοῦσαγυνὴἐνέκρυψενεἰςἀλεύρουσάτατρίαἕωςοὗἐζυμώθη

ὅλον.

He spoke another parable to them: “The reign
of the heavens is like leaven, which a woman took and hid into three measures
of flour until it was all leavened.

ἐλάλησεν: AAI 3s, λαλέω,1) to utter a voice or emit a
sound

ἐστιν: PAI 3s, εἰμί,1) to be, to exist, to happen,
to be present

λαβοῦσα: AAPart nsf, λαμβάνω,1) to
take

ἐνέκρυψεν: AAI 3s, ἐγκρύπτω, to hide in anything by covering.

ἐζυμώθη: API 3s, ζυμόω,1) to leaven

1. This (with the parallel text of Mt. 13:33) is the only
instance of the word ἐγκρύπτω. The NIV and NRSV translate it as “mixed,” which
I think is troubling. It transliterates into English as ‘encrypt’ and the root
(κρύπτω) appears throughout this chapter to indicate things hidden. “Hid” suggests
that this leavening was being done stealthily and raises all manner of
questions that “mixed” does not. And, “hiding” would provide the contrast to the
various discoveries that happen throughout these parables.

2. Was this supposed to be unleavened bread? Is the
reign of heaven a place where someone can easily slip some leaven (the amount
is unidentified) into a large amount (sixty pounds, says the NIV) of flour? Is
the reign of the heavens always an admixture of both flour and leaven? Perhaps
the reality that one can expect of the reign of the heavens is like the wheat
and weeds growing together, more than the separated wheat in the barn.

34 ΤαῦταπάνταἐλάλησενὁἸησοῦςἐνπαραβολαῖςτοῖςὄχλοις,καὶχωρὶς

παραβολῆςοὐδὲνἐλάλειαὐτοῖς:

Jesus said all these things in parables to
the crowd, and apart from a parable he was saying nothing to them;

ἐλάλησεν: AAI 3s, λαλέω,1) to utter a voice or emit a
sound

ἐλάλει: IAI 3s, λαλέω,1) to utter a voice or emit a
sound

35 ὅπωςπληρωθῇτὸῥηθὲνδιὰτοῦπροφήτουλέγοντος,Ἀνοίξωἐν

παραβολαῖςτὸστόμαμου,ἐρεύξομαικεκρυμμέναἀπὸκαταβολῆς

[κόσμου].

so that what had been spoken through the prophet
might be fulfilled saying, “I will open my mouth in parables, I will pour out
what has been hidden from the foundation [of the world].”

ῥηθὲν: APPart nsm, λέγω,1) to
say, to speak

πληρωθῇ: APSubj 3s, πληρόω,1) to
make full, to fill up, i.e. to fill to the full 1a) to cause to abound,
to furnish or supply liberally

λέγοντος: PAPart gsm, λέγω,1) to
say, to speak

Ἀνοίξω: FAI 1s, ἀνοίγω,1) to open

ἐρεύξομαι: FMI 1s, ἐρεύγομαι,1) to
spit or spew out

κεκρυμμένα: PerfPPart apn, κρύπτω,1) to
hide, conceal, to be hid

1.
Now it seems that the reign of the heavens itself may have been hidden from the
beginning. But, it would be a little hazardous to go back and assume that every
instance of hiding or stealth in this chapter refers to how the reign of the
heavens has been concealed until the right time. The weeds, for example, were
planted under the cover of night by an enemy and are gathered for the fire at
the right time. That does not sound like a metaphor of revelation.

[The Revised Common Lectionary skips
vv.36-43]

44 Ὁμοίαἐστὶνἡβασιλείατῶνοὐρανῶνθησαυρῷκεκρυμμένῳἐντῷἀγρῷ,ὃν

εὑρὼνἄνθρωποςἔκρυψεν,καὶἀπὸτῆςχαρᾶςαὐτοῦὑπάγεικαὶπωλεῖ

πάνταὅσαἔχεικαὶ ἀγοράζειτὸνἀγρὸνἐκεῖνον.

“The reign of the heavens is like to a
treasure which has been hidden in a field, which a man found [and] hid, and in
his joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

1.
The primary difference between this metaphor and the next is that this
discovery is completely random and surprising, while the next discovery of the
pearl is after one searches for good pearls. I imagine that the person
discovering the treasure in the field would be a tenant farmer who rents a patch
of land to farm. It is hard work to turn the soil of land that has not been
farmed in a long time, so the sudden discovery of hidden treasure would be a
welcomed surprise.

2.
For ages the ground has been an efficient savings bank for people whose lives
were always in danger of thieves or marauding enemies. One would bury the
treasure and remember the paces from a large stone or tree to retrieve it
later. If one died, the location would die with her/him.

3.
Notice that the man finds, then re-hides the treasure until he has secured the
land and can claim it rightfully. The point seems to be his joy in selling all
that he has to buy the field. But, even in that joy there is a bit of stealth
at work.

Again the reign of the heavens is like to a
man a merchant who is seeking good pearls;

ἐστιν: PAI 3s, εἰμί,1) to be, to exist, to happen,
to be present

ζητοῦντι: PAPart dsm, ζητέω,1) to
seek in order to find

46 εὑρὼνδὲἕναπολύτιμονμαργαρίτηνἀπελθὼνπέπρακενπάνταὅσαεἶχεν

καὶ
ἠγόρασεναὐτόν.

Yet having found one pearl of great value having
gone he has sold all that he was holding and bought it.

εὑρὼν: AAPart nsm, εὑρίσκω,1) to come upon, hit upon, to meet with

ἀπελθὼν: AAPart nsm, ἀπέρχομαι,1) to go away,
depart

πέπρακεν: PerfAI 3s, πιπράσκω,1) to
sell

εἶχεν: IAI 3s, ἔχω,1) to have, i.e. to hold

ἠγόρασεν: AAI 3s, ἀγοράζω,1) to be in the market place,
to attend it

1.
I sense a little difference in the merchant’s actions and the tenant farmer,
perhaps reflecting differing levels of wealth. The tenant farmer sells all that
he has (ἔχει, the present tense of ἔχω,to have or to hold). The merchant sells all that he had (εἶχεν, the imperfect tense of ἔχω).
I suspect, for the merchant, this might mean his inventory or his holdings,
rather than everything in his possession. That might be a leap, but Matthew
does use different tenses.

47 Πάλινὁμοίαἐστὶνἡβασιλείατῶνοὐρανῶνσαγήνῃβληθείσῃεἰςτὴν

θάλασσανκαὶ ἐκπαντὸςγένουςσυναγαγούσῃ:

Again the reign of the heavens is like a dragnet
having been thrown into the sea and having gathered together out of every kind;

ἐστιν: PAI 3s, εἰμί,1) to be, to exist, to happen,
to be present

βληθείσῃ: APPart dsf, βάλλω,1) to
throw or let go of a thing without caring where it falls

So it will be in the consummation
of the age; the angels will come and separate the bad out of the midst of the
righteous

ἔσται: FMI 3s, εἰμί,1) to be, to exist, to happen,
to be present

ἐξελεύσονται: FMI 3p, ἐξέρχομαι,1) to go
or come forth of

ἀφοριοῦσιν: FAI 3p, ἀφορίζω,1) to mark off from others by
boundaries, to limit, to separate

1.
This activity of separating the good from the bad, much like the reference to
the wheat and the weeds earlier in this chapter, is not the role of those who
participate in the reign of the heavens or the scribes who draw new and old
from it. It is the role of the angels or messengers at the end of the age. More
on that below.

and will throw them into the furnace of the
fire; there will be the weeping and the gnashing of the teeth.

βαλοῦσιν: FAI 3p, βάλλω,1) to throw or let go of a
thing without caring where it falls

ἔσται: FMI 3s, εἰμί,1) to be, to exist, to happen,
to be present

51 Συνήκατεταῦταπάντα;λέγουσιναὐτῷ,Ναί.

Did you comprehend all these things?” They
said to him, “Yes.”

Συνήκατε: AAI 2p, συνίημι,1) to set or bring together

λέγουσιν: PAI 3p, λέγω,1) to say, to speak

1. It is not entirely clear to whom Jesus is asking this
question, although it makes more sense to me that it would be the disciples. In
v.10 the disciples came to Jesus asking about the parable of the sower. Jesus
answers two things: 1) He speaks to the crowd in parables because it fulfills
the prophetic word that hearing they do not hear and seeing they do not
perceive. The disciples, however, have ears to hear. 2) Jesus explains the
parable to them. Perhaps having Jesus to explain the parables is what it means
that the disciples have hearing and sight. This whole dynamic seems very odd to
me. If they have hearing, why would they need explanations? If they don’t have
hearing, how are they different from the rest of the crowd?

2. In v.24 the narrator says that Jesus put another parable
before them. But, who is the ‘them’? If the parables are for the crowd, are we
back to addressing the crowd and is the question of v.51 directed to the crowd?
That would seem to contradict that crowd’s deafness and blindness to the
parables. If it is directed to the disciples, then Jesus is now speaking to the
disciples in parables, and not just to the crowds. There is either an extreme
lack of consistency here or I am extremely lost in the shifting sands of
whether parables conceal or reveal, whether they can be comprehended or must be
explained, whether having ears to hear them means having Jesus to explain them
or not.

Then he said to them, “Through this every
scribe having been discipled into the reign of the heavens is like a
householder who casts out of his treasure new and old.

μαθητευθεὶς: APPart nsm, μαθητεύω,
1) to be a disciple of one 1a) to follow his precepts and
instructions 2) to make a disciple 2a) to teach, instruct

ἐστιν: PAI 3s, εἰμί,1) to be, to exist, to happen,
to be present

ἐκβάλλει: PAI 3s, ἐκβάλλω,
1) to cast out, drive out, to send out

1. Matthew is the only gospel that uses the verb μαθητεύω. It
appears three times (here, 27:57, and 28:19) and then only one other time in
the NT (Acts 14:21).

2. We are so accustomed to hearing “scribe” as part of the axis of
evil in the gospels (Scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, Chief Priests, etc.). It
seems to be a good term here, perhaps a reference to the disciples or perhaps a
self-reference to Matthew, explaining why his gospel is different than other
gospels that have been written. Since this is what NT scholars call “M
material,” perhaps this is a way of defending Matthew’s differences from Mark.

3. The verb ἐκβάλλω is almost always used – at least in this chapter – as an
expulsion such as ‘throw out,’ rather than a gathering like ‘bring out’ (NIV,
NRSV, and almost everyone). Peter Phillips’ article, "Casting out the
Treasure: a New Reading of Matthew 13.52," (Journal for the Study of
the New Testament, 2008) is the most extensive treatment I’ve seen showing
that the orientation of reading this verb as “bringing out” here began with a
judgment by the Vulgate and had continued to be the dominant reading. Phillips
makes the case, however, that “cast out” is a better reading. If that is the
case – and I agree with him – then the analogy here is that the scribe is
divesting himself in order to embrace the gospel, much like the digger and
pearl merchant sell all to obtain the treasure and pearl.

Taken
collectively, the parables of this chapter show three moments in the reign of
the heavens. 1) From the foundations of the world, certain things were hidden –
perhaps like leaven hidden in the flour or treasure buried in a field. 2) At
the present time, the good and bad are co-mingled, like wheat and weeds, with
some being deaf and blind and others being receptive to the hidden things that
are now being poured out. In this present time, those who have discovered
treasures will disregard all else in order to obtain it, and scribes will be
bringing old and new out of the treasure. 3) At the consummation of the age
there will be a great separation by the angels, who will separate good and bad
– as one separates wheat from weeds, good fish from bad fish – and burns the
bad while gathering the good.

4 comments:

It occurs to me that Matthew may be the Jacques Derrida of the 1st century. Perhaps a Ph.D. in NT studies with a dissertation is in order: "Parables as Deconstructive Speech: The Inscription of Encryption."

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This blog is a weekly translation of a text from the Revised Common Lectionary.It is my rough translation in bold with some initial comments in blue, all of which are subject to change as we journey together. That's why I welcome your comments.